Deanna S. Walling

Deanna S. Walling

A Memorial Mass will be celebrated on August 25 at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., for Deanna Sullivan Walling, 61, of Lehigh Acres and formerly of Oakhurst, N.J., who died on July 29. She moved to Lehigh in 2007.

She was a graduate of Star of the Sea Academy in Long Branch, New Jersey and attended Marymount College in Boca Raton, Fla. She also attended modeling school and worked as a fashion model in New York City for a few years.

Walling was an avid horsewoman and won many awards for her jumping, and except for an injury, almost made the U.S. Equestrian Team. She was also well-known in the dog world for her prize winning Dobermans and poodles that she bred, trained and showed.

Since 1986, she was the owner of Zoom and Groom, a dog-grooming business that she had continued in Florida.

Deanna was predeceased by her father, George Sullivan.

She is survived by her husband, Larry of Lehigh Acres; her mother, Dorothy Sullivan of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; a sister, Patricia O’Sullivan of Rumson, N.J.; her niece, Catherine de Ganahl Costello and her husband, Kenneth, of Manchester by the Sea, Mass., and a great nephew, Finnbarr Costello and two step-children, Lara of Richmond, Va., and John of New York City.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made in Walling’s memory to the Lehigh Hope Hospice, 1206 Wings Way, Lehigh Acres, FL 33936, the Monmouth County SPCA, 260 Wall Street, Eatontown, N.J. 07724 or the Atlantic Riding Center, “Horses for Heroes,” 206 Asbury Road, Egg Harbor Township, N.J. 08234. To send your condolences to the family, visit the Thompson Memorial Home’s website at www.thompsonmemorial.com.